Tirupati hills lend name to plant species

TIRUPATI: The temple towns of Tirupati and Tirumala are now part of the world botanical literature. Four geographical locations within a 10km radius have lent their names to about a dozen plant species. Tirupati and Tirumala and two peaks of Seshadri and Neeladri have found their way into the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (ICN).
Anew plant species discovered in the Neeladri has been named Graphis neeladriensis after the hill.The researchers who discovered it, from the department of botany at Yogi Vemana University , Kadapa, and lichenology laboratory of Na tional Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, described it as unique. It is one of the 126 species of lichens discovered in Rayalaseema region. A lichen species discovered earlier has been named after Kurnool town, Diorygma kurnoolensis.
A plant species discovered in Seshachalam or Seshadri hill was named Brachystelma ses hachalamense. The plants named after Tirumala are Prospodium tirumalensis and Scolecostigmina tirumalensis. And the one named after Tirumala is Pimpinella tirupatiensis.
Botanists at the Indian Science Congress, which concluded last week, said the Seshachalam biosphere contains unique flora and fauna.